Pellet grill facts for kids
Pellet grills, sometimes called pellet smokers, are outdoor cookers. They combine parts of charcoal smokers, gas grills, and even kitchen ovens. These grills use small pieces of wood pellets for fuel. They can smoke food, grill it, braise, sear, and bake. An electric control panel helps them work. It automatically feeds wood pellets to the fire. It also controls the air flow and keeps the cooking temperature steady.
Contents
How Pellet Grills Started
Early Ideas and Growth
Pellet grills first came from pellet stoves. These stoves heat homes. In the 1970s, people needed cheaper ways to heat their houses. This led to new ideas for fuel, like wood pellets. Wood pellets were invented in the United States in the late 1970s. They are tiny, eraser-sized pieces made from pressed sawdust.
By the early 1980s, two men were working with pellet stoves. Jerry Whitfield was an engineer from Boeing. Joe Traeger ran a family heating business. Their stoves looked like regular wood stoves but worked differently. They used electricity. A motor-driven auger (a type of screw) moved pellets from a storage bin to a fire pot. A fan helped the fire burn and blew warm air from the stove.
Traeger Grills and Their Journey
Joe Traeger created the first Traeger pellet grill in 1985. He got a patent for it in 1986. A patent means he was the only one allowed to make and sell this type of grill for a certain time. Early Traeger Grills used a simple controller. It had settings for low, medium, and high heat. These settings tried to reach a certain temperature range. But they didn't adjust for things like weather or how much food was cooking. This could make the temperature less steady.
Because of the patent, Traeger was the only company making pellet grills for 20 years. It stayed a small family business. They sold grills to a few stores. In 2006, the patent ended. This meant other companies could start making pellet grills. Many new companies entered the market. They used similar technology to Joe Traeger's original design. This led to many new ideas and improvements in pellet grills.
After the patent ended, Joe Traeger and his son Brian sold their rights to Traeger Grills. Later, in 2018, Joe and Brian Traeger started working for another grill company called Danson's. This company owned brands like Louisiana Grills and Pit Boss Grills. In 2019, Louisiana Grills launched a new line of grills. They said Joe Traeger, the founder of the original pellet grill, was behind them. They even used images of the "Traeger Barn" from old Traeger ads. The new owners of Traeger Grills sued Joe and Brian Traeger and Danson's for using the barn and promoting the Traegers. The new owners won the case.
How Pellet Grills Work
Pellet stoves and pellet grills both use wood pellets. But the pellets are different. Pellets for home heating can have softwood and other wood scraps. These can make food taste bad or even be harmful if eaten. Pellet grills use special food-grade pellets. These are made only from hardwood. They have no extra stuff added. Some makers use a little soybean or vegetable oil to help make them.
Because they are small and made of pure hardwood, food-grade pellets burn cleanly. They give food a light, smoky flavor. You can find wood pellets made from different types of wood. These include oak, maple, apple, alder, mesquite, cherry, hickory, and pecan. Each wood gives a slightly different flavor.
Pellet grills cook food using an indirect method. This is also called convection cooking. It's similar to how traditional charcoal and wood smokers work. Wood pellets also create smoke that flavors the food. Because of this, many people started using pellet grills. They found them easier to use than old-fashioned smokers.
Some pellet grills now have Wi-Fi. This lets you check on your grill from your phone. You can see the temperature and how your food is cooking. Pellet grill technology is also being used in other cooking tools. These include ceramic Kamado grills and pizza ovens.
Keeping the Temperature Steady
The temperature in a pellet grill depends on how much fuel burns and how much air gets to the fire. But unlike regular grills, pellet grills control the fuel and air automatically. You just set the temperature you want. This makes cooking easier for you.
Here's how it works:
- You set the temperature on the electronic control panel.
- A motor-driven auger (a rotating screw) moves a small amount of pellets from a storage bin (hopper) to a fire pot.
- Hot rods light the pellets. This starts the fire and brings the grill to a first temperature, usually around 140 °F (60 °C) to 180 °F (82 °C).
- Once the fire is ready, the grill reaches your set temperature. It does this by repeating a "duty cycle." This is a period of time when the auger turns on and off.
- For example, if you set the grill to 250 °F (121 °C), the auger might turn on for 10 seconds. Then it turns off for 50 seconds. This cycle repeats.
- The auger is always on for the same amount of time (e.g., 10 seconds). What changes is how long it stays off. For lower temperatures, the auger stays off longer. For higher temperatures, it stays off for a shorter time.
Smart Digital Controllers
Some pellet grills use fully digital control panels. These are like the controls on a kitchen oven. They have a screen and easy-to-use buttons. Digital controllers have small computer chips. These chips work with sensors to create a "feedback loop." The sensor checks the grill's temperature. It sends this info to the controller. If the grill gets too hot or too cold, the controller tells the auger to turn on or off. This helps the grill make small adjustments to keep the temperature steady.
These digital controllers also have better duty cycles. The auger turns on for shorter bursts. This helps the grill reach and hold a wider range of temperatures. It also stops too many pellets from piling up in the fire pot. This helps prevent sudden big changes in temperature.
PID Controllers: Super Smart Temperature Control
PID controllers are even more advanced. When you set a temperature, the grill starts to warm up. As it heats up, the PID controller learns. It figures out how long and how many pellets it needs to raise the temperature under the current conditions. It uses a smart math formula (an algorithm) to calculate the perfect duty cycle. This helps it reach your desired temperature.
The PID controller keeps checking the temperature. It adjusts the duty cycle as needed, even after the grill reaches the target temperature. This constant checking and adjusting means pellet grills with PID controllers can hit and hold a temperature for many hours.
Better Airflow with Induction Fans
Controlling the air flow to the fire is very important for temperature control. The fans in pellet grills have gotten much better over time. Older pellet grills had fans that ran all the time. This meant oxygen was always going to the fire. It made it harder to control the temperature.
Later, fans started working with the auger. So, when pellets were fed, oxygen was also fed. Now, some grills have "intermittent" fans. These fans work on their own. They can turn on and off to give oxygen to the fire only when it's needed. This helps keep the temperature even more precise.
